DACA Today

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was implemented in June 2012 through an executive order to benefit people who were brought to the U.S. under the age of 16 and who either never had legal status or lost it.  It grants those who apply and meet the other requirements a 2-year work permit.  DACA has allowed over 700,000 unauthorized immigrants to get legal permission to work which in turn leads to a social security number and, in many states, a driver’s license.  Although it is not a green card or a path to a green card, DACA has been a very important benefit for hundreds of thousands of young people.

DACA is in danger of being discontinued by the Trump administration.  A leaked draft of an executive order, published on vox.com, would rescind DACA immediately but would allow existing DACA work permits to remain valid until they expire.  We have no way of knowing if the administration will promulgate this order, do nothing, or do something else.  Thus the future for people with DACA is unclear.

In our opinion, someone who has DACA and who has not done anything to make himself ineligible to renew should apply to do so in spite of the real risk the administration may terminate DACA at any time.  The benefit of two more years of DACA work permission outweigh the risk that the filing fee and other costs of applying to renew may go for naught.  For new DACA applicants, however, who have not already given their fingerprints and other information to the government, there is not only that risk, but also the risk that the information provided on DACA applications will be used to deport them.  Everyone must make her own decision, of course, but newly eligible people and their parents may well decide the risk is too great.

These fears are not totally unfounded. One of the questions answered on the DHS’ website is the following:

Q19: Will the information I share in my request for consideration of deferred action for childhood arrivals be used for immigration enforcement purposes?
The short answer, according to the website is no, it may not be used for immigration enforcement purposes. But the government goes on to explain that the information may be shared with national security and law enforcement agencies such as ICE and CBP for reasons other than removal proceedings. It further goes on to expound that this policy may be “modified, superseded or rescinded at any moment.” In other words, there is no guarantee that the information provided by DACA applicants will not be used for the purpose of removal by the new administration.
 
Link to Vox article: http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/25/14390106/leaked-drafts-trump-immigrants-executive-order
Link to the USCIS website Q&A for DACA: https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/consideration-deferred-action-childhood-arrivals-process/frequently-asked-questions